


24 Days Of Ficmas 2018

by kamala_khan_for_president



Series: Life On The Farm-Verse [7]
Category: Champions (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Christmas, Domestic Fluff, First Dates, Fluff, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-02 21:05:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 16,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16794736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamala_khan_for_president/pseuds/kamala_khan_for_president
Summary: Sequel to Life On The Farm and The Genosha24 short stories running up to Christmas, (hopefully) uploading every day





	1. 1st Of December

**Author's Note:**

> I'm writing these as quick as I can, but I have a lot of school work at the moment, so there may be days when I miss posting a chapter, but I'll try and make up for it by posting the missed chapters when I can next update

“Are you sure we don’t need to land this thing ourselves?” Erik asked as the quinjet started on its descent. They broke through the clouds, bringing the Avengers’ Compound into sight.

Anya sighed. “For the last time Dad, we don’t. We usually do with the Avengers’ quinjets, but not what with Wakandan tech. Shuri’s stuff is pretty awesome like that”

Wanda watched the two argue over the landing protocols from the back of the quinjet. Sighing slightly, she turned away from them to stare out the window as they approached home. She could faintly see figures running through the corridors, the full length windows making it obvious that it was Cassie and Lila, racing towards the landing pads. “We’ve been spotted,” she said.

Cassie and Lila weren’t the only people waiting for them at the landing pad. Clint, Laura, Cooper, Nate and Lorna were waiting for them also.

As the quinjet landed and the ramp lowered, Wanda stood from her wheelchair.

“Hey,” Erik shouted. “You’re not meant to be out of that. You still need to be resting”

Wanda barely supressed the urge to roll her eyes. “Shuri said I won’t need it as much now. It’s been two and half months, I can walk if I want to”

“Dad just let her,” Anya argued.

“Fine, but I’m taking your bag,” Erik sighed as he snatched up Wanda’s bag before she had the chance. He’d already done the same with Anya’s bag, as well as his own, and was struggling to balance all three bags on his shoulders.

Anya locked eyes with Wanda, shooting her an exasperated look. “If he starts anything with Clint, then I’m hitting heads together”

Wanda grinned. “And I’ll be happy to help”

Without the added weight of everyone’s bags, Wanda and Anya made their way out of the quinjet much faster than Erik. Lorna raced over and threw herself at her two sisters.

“I’ve missed you guys so much,” she said.

“We saw you last week,” Wanda pointed out as she pulled back from her.

Lorna mocked glared at her, still attached to Anya. Wanda walked over to where her parents and younger siblings were stood waiting. She quickly accepted the group hug. As the group separated slightly, Clint grabbed Wanda by her arm as he noticed the girl stumble slightly at the sudden loss of support.

“You okay?” he asked.

Wanda waved him off. “I’m fine, I’m just a little tired”

Laura looped one of her arms through Wanda’s and began to lead the girl back inside. “Then let’s get you back inside. Of course you’re going to be tired after all that travelling”

The Bartons and Cassie led the way back into the Compound with Anya, Lorna and Erik trailing behind.

***

A small knock sounded at the door. Wanda turned her head over from where she had flopped down on her bed. She used her powers to open the door, letting whoever it was into the room. Wanda felt the bed dip and looked up to see Natasha sat on the end of the bed.

“How are you doing kid?” she asked.

“Tired, and I hurt still,” Wanda muttered. “But I’m home now, so at least I’ve got that”

“Shuri did promise to have you home for the holidays,” Natasha said, a small smirk beginning to appear on her face. “Which means that you’re back in time for all the pre-holidays chaos like usual this year”

Wanda groaned, rolling over to hide her face in her pillow. “Oh god, no”


	2. 2nd Of December

“What are you doing?” 

Pepper yelped at the sound of two small voices behind her. She spun around to see Lila and Cassie and quickly hid the box behind her back, despite the fact the packaging hid the contents. 

“I’m just taking this box to the right part of the building,” Pepper explained. The two girls each raised an eyebrow at her in a moved so perfectly synchronised, Pepper thought it must have been practiced. “It was delivered to the main Avengers Compound, however it needs to go to the Stark Industries branch we have on site. I was on my way there to speak to someone anyway and so I thought I’d save someone else the trip” 

“Okay,” Lila said. “But we’ve got our eyes on you” 

Lila and Cassie turned and walked away back towards the living areas of the Compound. Pepper breathed a sigh of relief and carried on down the hall. However, when she reached the end where the hall split off in two, she took the right heading towards the Avengers training facilities, instead of heading off to the left where Stark Industries branch was located. She went down a hall lined with storage units and opened one at the far end. Inside, it was filled with boxes similar to the ones Pepper was carrying and several rolls of wrapping paper. She set the bow down on the floor and turned to leave. 

“You might want to move that,” came a voice from the vents. 

Pepper turned around and stared up at the ceiling. “Clint?” she asked. She moved the box and watched as the grill covering the vent in the ceiling swung open and the former spy dropped down. 

“Thanks,” he said. He reached up and pulled a backpack out of the air vent. 

“What were you doing in there?” Pepper asked. 

“Lila and Cassie are on the prowl, trying to catch people as Christmas presents arrive,” Clint explained. “I thought this was the easiest way to get here without being caught” 

“The vents?” 

Clint nodded. 

Pepper sighed. “Why am I not surprised?” 

Before Clint could come up with one of his trademark sarcastic responses, the two heard the sound of a cart being pushed down the hall. They looked over to see a janitor’s trolley stopping just outside the door. The man pushing the trolley looked up in surprise when he saw the two people already in the storage room. He removed his cap and peeled off a fake moustache, ditching the disguise. 

“Scott, what the hell?” Clint asked. 

“What? I gotta hide from Cassie and Lila somehow"


	3. 3rd Of December

"Why does it keep staring at me like that?" Erik asked.

Anya looked over to see what "it" was. she narrowed her eyes and stared at Erik. “Dad, that’s Lila. A person, not an it. And she’s staring because she’s probably wondering when you’re next going to snap at her. You haven’t exactly been nice to her and the other kids since we arrived”

Erik scoffed at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about”

Anya raised one eyebrow at him. “Please, you’ve barely spoken to her since we arrived back, and what you have said to her, and the other kids, has been harsh and rude. It really needs to stop”

“What, and you’re going to tell me that if I want to get on better with Wanda, I need to be nicer to her younger... siblings?”

“I shouldn’t have to use emotional blackmail to get you to be nice to children,” Anya defended. “We’re going to be living here for some time, Wanda probably won’t ever want to leave, so just try and be nice, okay?” She watched her Dad, him still seemingly unable to get it. “Imagine if that was me or Lorna when we were that age. You’d lose it if someone treated us like that”

Erik seemed to finally understand what Anya was saying, much to her annoyance. “I’ll talk to them. And I promise that I’ll be nice”

***

Erik walked over to where Cooper, Lila, Cassie and Nate were all sat on the floor around a low table covered in Lego. He coughed lightly to get their attention.

Cooper narrowed his eyes slightly, looking protectively towards his younger sister. It seemed that Anya wasn’t the only one to notice the cold way Erik had been treating Lila. “What do you want?”

“I’ve come to apologise,” Erik started. “I know that since I first met you and your parents, I haven’t exactly been nice to you, and that has only gotten worse since I arrived here. But, I want to make things right between us. We all care about Wanda and I think she’d rather we all got along”

Lila slid over and patted the spot on the floor next to her. Erik came and sat down next to her.

“So, what are guys up to?” Erik asked.

Cooper showed Erik what he was working on. The model was about six inches tall and appeared to be the beginnings of a Christmas tree. “We’re decorating tomorrow, but we decided to start making some stuff to go up”

“And you went with Lego?”

Lila gave Erik a sarcastic look. “Well obviously. We’re kids, it’s not like we can exactly use Uncle Tony’s lab to make stuff”

“That’s a fair point,” Erik replied. “Mind if I join?”

None of the kids said anything, but Cooper pushed the big box of Lego bricks towards Erik.

***

Lorna walked into the kitchen and saw her two sisters sat on stools at the kitchen island. “What’s going?” she asked.

“Dad’s actually getting on with the kiddos,” Anya replied.

Lorna took a seat next to Wanda. “Are they building Christmas decorations out of Lego?”

“The kids are,” Wanda answered. “He’s trying to build a Lego menorah”

“Of course he is”


	4. 4th Of December

By the time the kids arrived back at the Compound after school, the Christmas tree was up but undecorated. Boxes of Christmas decorations, both brought from the farmhouse and new ones Tony had ordered, were stacked around the room. Bits of mistletoe had already been pinned in the door ways and chains of fairy lights were hung around the edge of every room. They didn’t wait long before they got started. Almost as soon as they were in the door, the kids’ bags had been abandoned by the door and they were pulling decorations out of the boxes, the floor becoming more and more sparkly by the second as tinsel spilled everywhere.

“Lila, what are you doing?” Cooper asked.

Cassie looked over to her friend and laughed when she saw her completely wrapped in the tinsel. “Lila, what did you go?”

“It was all tangled and I tried to fix it, but I made it worse,” the girl explained.

Cooper and Cassie came over to Lila and tried to untangle her from the glittery mess.

“It’s in your hair,” Cooper exclaimed. He gave it a tug, causing his sister to yelp in pain. “I don’t know how to sort this out”

Cassie grabbed Lila’s hand and led her over to the sofas. She sat on the sofa and gestured for her to sit in front of her. Cassie carefully untangled the tinsel from her friend’s hair. Cooper watched the two from the other side of the room, noticing the small smile on his sister’s face. As he turned back to the tinsel, he heard a small sound from the corner of the room. He looked over in time to see a small furry black shape dash across the room and towards the tree.

“Mittens!”

All three kids turned to look as Sam came running into the room, shaking a bag of cat treats. Panther was running after him, jumping up and trying to take the treats from him.

“Uncle Sam, what’s going on?” Cooper asked.

“Have you seen Mittens?” Sam asked. “She was trying to climb into the tree earlier. We managed to keep her away, but she escaped”

“I think I saw her running towards the tree,” Cooper answered.

Sam swore under his breath and ran towards the tree. He stuck his hand in the tree and started rooting around for the cat. After a few moments, he pulled his hand out of the tree, a cat stuck to it. “Victory is mine,” he declared. He looked around the room and finally realised how much mess the kids had made in such a short space of time. “You guys might want to neaten this out a bit before everyone else gets in here to help with the decorating”

“We will,” Cassie promised. “Just as soon as I get this tinsel out of Lila’s hair!”


	5. 5th Of December

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry today's chapter is a little later than usual, been really busy with school work.
> 
> Also, for this chapter to make sense, just act like Ragnarok happened but without Bruce being there

The subject of Thor being back in time for Christmas had been discussed time after time by the Avengers children. As much as the adults wanted to tell them that he would be back soon, they couldn’t be certain. It had been months since they’d heard from Thor, and even then, what they had heard had been strange and confusing. Apparently, who Thor had thought was his father Odin was actually his brother Loki in disguise. From what he had said, it sounded like it would be a while before he returned home, if ever.

It was late in the evening, and most people were in bed. The only ones left awake Steve, Bucky, Sam and Tony. The group were gathered on a sofa in front of the TV, caught in an intense game of Mario Kart. The game had been bought for the children, but after finding out that Bucky had never even heard of the game, they decided that they needed to change that.

“Damn, I forgot how good Steve was at this game,” Tony said.

Steve grinned as he quickly overtook everyone else on the track. “You’re just jealous”

“Oh, I'm not,” Tony grinned as he pressed a button, sending a blue shell towards Steve at the front of the race.

Steve went to yell at Tony, but his protests were drowned out by F.R.I.D.A.Y.

“Boss, there appears to be spacecraft heading towards the airspace over the Compound,” she said in her usual calm tone.

The game was quickly abandoned as the men ran to the window. As they watched the large spacecraft touched down on the thankfully vast lawn outside, they were joined by others. Clint, Pepper and Scott crowded round the window with them. They all watched as a door opened and a ramped lowered, allowing a group of four people out. Clint squinted and stared at the group.

“That’s Thor,” he said pointing at the member leading the group. “Except he’s had a bit of a makeover”

“Who’s with him?” Pepper asked.

“I have no idea,” Clint answered. “I haven’t seen them before, but if they’re with Thor, they can’t be bad”

***

“I take it back,” Clint said. “The others are fine, this one’s bad”

After meeting Thor outside, the Avengers had learned that the ship was full of Asgardian refugees. Workers from the Compound were rushing out with food, water and blankets while they worked on finding a more permanent solution. The Avengers had returned upstairs with Thor and his friends so that he could explain what had happened since he’d last seen them. All the other adults joined those that were already up, so they could listen as well. Thor was sat on a sofa with two of the people that had left the ship with him. One, a man, had eyes that shone with a beautiful gold hue and long dark hair in dreadlocks. The other, a woman, wore white armour with a regal blue cape and seemed reluctant to part with the sword she had strapped to her side.

The fourth member of the group, the one Clint was accusing of being bad, was sat to one side by herself. She appeared to be a teenager, but as she was most likely an Asgardian, the others knew she would be much older than she seemed. Her dark hair fell almost to her waist, although part of it cloak her face, hiding vibrant green eyes. She turned to face Thor.

“I told you they wouldn’t want me here,” she spat.

“Give them a chance, sister,” Thor said. “They’re great when you get to know them”

“I’m sorry,” Tony interrupted. “You have another sibling?”

Thor looked confused. “Yes, I had a sister, Hela the Goddess of Death. But I don’t see what she has to do with this, she died when Surtur destroyed Asgard”

Bruce looked between Thor and his sister for a few moments before it clicked in his brain who was sat in the chair. “Loki?”

Loki shot him a sarcastic grin. “Guilty as charged”

“I’ve never met Loki, so forgive me if I’m wrong, but I thought Loki was an adult man,” Bucky said.

“The Loki they knew was,” Loki began to explain. “Me and Thor ended up stranded on a planet named Sakaar. Something happened to me there, I don’t know what, but the only I could save myself was to revert myself back to how I was when I was this age. And as for the man bit, I’m genderfluid. But people on Asgard weren’t very accepting. My family were so when I was younger what everyone said about me didn’t bother me as much, but as I grew older it did. So I stopped using my powers to shift between genders when I needed to”

“And you’re going back to doing that now?” Steve asked.

“Obviously,” Loki replied.

“Did you say that Asgard was destroyed?” Scott asked. Everyone else seemed to remember that comment when Scott reminded them, having previously been focused on Loki.

Thor nodded solemnly.

“So,” Clint spoke up. “Since we last saw you, you’ve lost your eye, your hair and your entire planet?”

“And his hammer and his dad,” the woman sat next to Thor added.

“And the Warriors Three,” the man added.

“Who are you again?” Tony asked.

“These are my friends Heimdall and Valkyrie,” Thor introduced, pointing to the man and woman in turn. “Heimdall helped protect the people in Asgard from Hela whilst me and Loki were stranded on Sakaar and Valkyrie helped us escape”

“After I handed him over as a gladiator,” Valkyrie grinned. She looked over to the kitchen. “You got any booze?”

Everyone exchanged a worried look.

“Cupboard above the sink,” Tony directed. “And please don’t get drunk around the children”

“There are children here?” Loki asked, an alarmed look on her face.

“Yeah, Clint and Laura’s kids, Cassie Lang and Oksana,” Sam explained.

Loki didn’t respond, but the alarmed look stayed on her face.

“Not good with kids?” Clint silently mouthed at Thor. He got a grimace and a shake of the head in response. “Well, this should be fun”


	6. 6th Of December

“America Chavez, if you dare even think about it, I swear to god I will dump your ass,” Kate warned. She screamed and ducked but wasn’t quick enough to dodge the snowball thrown her direction. She turned over from she’d landed on the floor, snowflakes peppering her hair. “I’m going to get you for that”

“Fight me,” America yelled back at her girlfriend.

Kate ducked behind the snow wall that she built with her team. When the Young Avengers had awoken, they’d seen the thick layer of snow covering the city, they’d immediately headed for Central Park. They split into two smaller teams and built the defences. Kate was crouched in the half built snow fort with Billy, David and Cassie .

“She got you?” Billy asked.

Kate glared at him. “No, I just threw my ass on the floor for no reason. Of course she got me!”

“If America’s ready to make a kill shot like that this early on, then they’re not taking any prisoners,” Cassie said. “Especially going for you, her girlfriend of all people”

“You guys are really taking this seriously aren’t you?” David commented.

“Of course we are David,” Kate replied. “They’ll never let us live it down otherwise. Including Tommy. Just think how annoying your boyfriend is going to be if they win”

David’s eyes widened comically in horror at the thought of how long Tommy would tease him about this. “What’s the plan?”

Kate eyed a large tree a hundred metres away. It was an evergreen so it’s branches would hide anyone that were to climb it. “I need you guys to distract them so I can get up there. Once I’m up, one good kick the branches of the tree next to it will cause all the snow to fall and crush their snow fort”

Cassie peered over at the other team. “That shouldn’t be too hard, they haven’t built a snow fort anywhere near as good as ours. Thanks David”

“I think you should be thanking the snow hotel architect I once met,” David replied. He tapped the side of his head. “Got that all stored here”

“You know, I thought I suggested distracting the other team, not ours,” Kate said.

Billy smirked and Cassie and David rolled their eyes, but the three stood and ran from behind the snow wall and began hurling snowballs at the other team.

Kate waited until the other’s attention was fully on her team before sprinting towards the tree. Thankfully the branches were quite low and she was soon scaling the tree.

“Wait, where’s Kate?” America yelled from below.

Kate grinned. Her girlfriend had finally noticed she was missing, but it was too late. By this point, Kate was high enough in the tree to reach the one next to it. She leapt forward and grabbed one of the branches near the top. Once she’d found her balance, she kicked out and struck one of the thicker branches below her. It shook slightly before all the snow crashed downwards. The momentum of the falling snow shook more of the branches lower down, sending even more snow to the ground. Kate looked down just in time to see the other team’s horrified faces as their fort was crushed under the falling snow.

“We win!” Cassie declared. She threw her hands up in the air, sending the snowball she’d been holding flying straight into Noh-Varr’s face.

America laughed before looking up at her girlfriend. The amused expression quickly dropped from her face. “Get down from there, princess. You’re gonna get hurt”

Kate realised that America wasn’t look at her but rather above her. She looked up to see the branch she was holding onto start to crack. She went grab another, but it snapped away from the trunk before she had the chance. She screamed as she started to fall. 

America flew upwards to catch Kate before she hit one of the lower branches, sending both of them crashing into the snowy mess that used to be the other team’s fort.

The rest of the Young Avengers ran over to see if the girls were okay.

“Are you guys alright?” Teddy asked.

America was lying flat on her back, hair spread out around her with a dazed expression on her face. Kate was giggling with a cheeky grin on her face. She’d landed on her side and her head was resting on her girlfriend’s chest.

“Aww, babe, thanks for saving me,” Kate said.

“I hate you,” America replied. She tried to act grumpy, but couldn’t resist Kate’s grin and instead reached over to kiss her girlfriend instead.


	7. 7th Of December

Thor was stood holding Oksana as her parents tried to figure out how to set up the camera tripod. “Do you two need any help?”

“We got this,” Bruce replied. “I think”

Natasha sighed. “Seriously, a fully trained assassin and a man with seven PhDs and between us we can’t figure out how to set up a basic tripod”

After a few more moments, the tripod clicked into place. Bruce stood up and held his arms out to Thor for him to hand over Oksana. Thor frowned and held the baby a little tighter. 

“Thor, give him the baby,” Natasha instructed.

Thor reluctantly relinquished the baby into her father’s arms. Bruce smiled at her and brought her over to the little photoshoot they’d set up.   
Thor sat down and watched the family as Natasha sat her daughter in front of the Christmas tree. “Why are you taking photos?” 

“It’s her first Christmas, people always take photos of their baby’s first Christmas,” Natasha explained.

“I know,” Thor replied. “I’ve seen all of Clint’s kids’ first Christmas photos. Multiple times. He really likes showing those photos to people. I just never took either of you to be those kind of people”

“Before you knew about Clint’s kids, did you ever take him to be that kind of person?” Natasha asked. Thor shook his head. “People are different with their kids. Why would we be any different?”

“That is a fair point, I'm sorry for not thinking of that,” Thor apologised.

“It’s not your fault,” Bruce reassured. “You were warrior on Asgard. I'm guessing you didn’t know many friends with kids, you wouldn’t know what parents are like”

“And it’s not like you can generalise from Clint, the man’s an idiot,” Natasha added. “He doesn’t follow any normal behavioural patterns”

“That sounds alarmingly like something that a psychiatrist would say,” Bruce said.

Natasha shrugged. ”Me and Clint were on the top of the S.H.I.E.L.D. compulsory therapy list. The records from those were leaked along with the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. files. Me and Laura may have had a little look”

“You looked at Clint’s therapy files?” Bruce asked.

“The therapist turned out to be Hydra agent,” Natasha explained. “We had to make sure he hadn’t said anything about Laura and the kids that he shouldn’t’ve. A lot of the stuff was after he was after New York and he didn’t want to relieve any of that”

Thor bit his lip. “I should probably get Loki to apologise for that”

“That would be a good idea” 


	8. 8th Of December

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I POSTED YESTERDAY'S CHAPTER LITERALLY TEN MINUTES BEFORE THE TRAILER SOMEBODY SCREAM ABOUT IT WITH ME

“What are we doing today?” Bucky asked. He’d been dragged into the screening room at the Compound by the kids, a reluctant Loki tagging along behind them.

“Neither of you have ever seen Home Alone, so we’re watching it now,” Cassie explained.

Loki groaned and threw himself down in a chair at the back of the room. He pulled his phone, that he’d somehow acquired in the last three days, out from his pocket.

Bucky tried to be more enthusiastic than Loki. “What’s it about?”

“A kid who gets left home alone when his family go on holiday and has to do defend his home from a pair of burglars,” Lila answered.

Bucky looked confused. “That sounds kinda depressing, not gonna lie”

“They didn’t mean to leave him behind,” Cooper pointed out.

“He’s still left alone to fight off home invaders,” Bucky argued.

“Uncle Bucky just give the movie a go,” Lila pleaded.

Bucky sighed but sat down anyway. He ended up with kids on either side as they all settled down to watch the movie.

***

They were nearing the end of the movie when Bucky heard the sound of a pen on paper coming from behind him. He glanced behind him to see Loki scrawling in a small notebook.

“What are you doing?” Bucky asked.

Loki looked up and shot Bucky a mischievous grin. “I’m taking notes. And let’s just say that Thor better watch out on April Fools’ Day”


	9. 9th Of December

“Don’t climb the tree,” America ordered as she and Kate walked past the same tree Kate had fallen out of earlier that week.

Kate rolled her eyes. “I’m never going to live that one down, am I?”

“Not if I can help it,” America answered. “Now, where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise,” Kate said. The couple walked further into the park until America spotted where Kate was taking her.

“An ice-skating ring, really?” America asked.

“What? It’s a classic,” Kata argued.

America pretended to be mad at her girlfriend but allowed her to drag her over to the ice anyway. A few minutes later, the couple were gliding around the ice. Well, Kate was gliding around effortlessly. America thought her girlfriend looked elegant as she skated in loops around the rink. She, on the other hand, was grasping the side of the rink and trying to not to topple over.

Kate skated over to America and slid to an easy stop next to her. “You okay there?” she asked.

“Fine,” America said through gritted teeth. She stumbled a little further around the edge of the ring, still clutching to the barrier at the side.

Kate thought for a second before sliding backwards slightly so she was a few feet away from America. She held both her hands out towards America. “Come on,” she urged.

America grimaced but tried anyway. She stumbled slightly as she left the support of the barrier behind her but managed to make it over to Kate without falling over. She gripped her girlfriend’s arms tightly as to not fall over. “I think I got this”

“Yeah, you’re getting it,” Kate encouraged. She loosened America’s grip on her arms and shifted so that her girlfriend was holding her hands instead of her elbows. She started going backwards, forcing America to come along after her. “And you’re doing it”

America giggled as Kate dragged her along the ice. After a few minutes, Kate let go of America’s hands and grinned as the girl confidently skated on by herself. She did a loop of rink before sliding to a stop next to her girlfriend. She held her hand out towards Kate. She grinned when the other girl reached out and took her hand. The two of them glided around the rink, hand in hand, laughing as they went.

***

“So, let me get this straight,” Tommy started. “You kept holding onto the barriers around the edge of the ice rink because you couldn’t skate”

“That is correct,” America answered.

Tommy stared at her. “So she helped you, meaning that the two of you got a cute date.” America nodded. “Doesn’t she know that you can actually skate?”

America shrugged. “She doesn’t need to know that”


	10. 10th Of December

“We should have flown our own quinjet to the Compound,” T’Challa stated as he stared out the window. Just as the plane had landed at the airport, a heavy blanket of snow started to fall and cover the roads. Now the group were stuck in a taxi on their way to the Avengers Compound.

T’Challa was sat in the front with Shuri, Ororo and Nakia sat in the back. Ororo, who had been visiting Wakanda and agreed to travel back to the States with them, was seriously beginning to regret her decision.

“Really, you don’t say,” Shuri snapped. She sighed and slumped back in her seat. “I’m bored”

“We know,” Nakia sighed.

“So,” the taxi driver, Graham, said in an attempt to break through the tension. “Where are you guys from?”

“Wakanda,” Shuri answered.

“And how do you all know each other?” Graham asked.

“Shuri is my younger sister and Nakia is my girlfriend,” T’Challa replied.

“And Ororo is his ex-wife,” Shuri added. She had a grin on her face that made it obvious that she wanted to try and make things weird by making sure that the taxi driver was fully aware of the relationship dynamic between the four.

Graham didn’t say anything at first, just raised his eyebrows. “Right, then. That must be fun”

***

About half an hour and two miles later, Graham decided to revisit the topic.

“Do you not find it weird that you’re hanging out with his ex-wife?” he asked.

Nakia sighed. “Not really, we were friend before they got married and friends after they split up. There’s not reason that would change”

“And you don’t find it weird?” Graham added as he turned to T’Challa.

“Normally I don’t,” he answered. “But then people keep asking me about it”

“I’ll stop,” Graham decided.

“Good idea,” Nakia said.

“Would it make it more interesting if I told you that he’s the King of Wakanda?” Shuri asked as she leant forward in her seat, so she was closer to Graham. Her words had the intended effect as his eyes bugged open in shock.

“So, she could’ve been queen?” he asked, pointing to Ororo. He switched so he was pointing to Nakia. “And she’s gonna be queen?”

Both Nakia and T’Challa suddenly looked really awkward. “Erm, we haven’t thought that far ahead,” T’Challa stammered out. “We aren’t at that point in our relationship”

“God, this is awkward,” Ororo muttered under her breath.

***

Thankfully, the road cleared up not long after that and they were able to get to the Compound relatively quickly. Graham dropped them off at the gates where Emma Frost was already waiting to pick up Ororo. She said goodbye to the others and hurried off towards the Emma.

Shuri grabbed her bags from the boot of the car and rushed through the gates of the Compound. She ran down the long driveway as fast as she could. It was a long run, but it meant she reached the doors of the Compound long before her brother and his girlfriend.

The door opened to reveal Wanda and Lorna sat waiting in the entrance for her. Both girls grinned when they saw her. Shuri sprinted past them and towards the stairs.

“Run,” she yelled as she went. “I think my brother is going to kill me”


	11. 11th Of December

There weren’t many times Wanda regretted her actions as much as she did right now. Shuri had wanted to go see the Christmas markets and somehow she’d managed to drag Peter, Lorna and Wanda along with her, despite Wanda’s numerous protests that she and her sister were Jewish. In the end, the fact Lorna had been bribed with free food had won out and which was brought Wanda to be trudging through the snow in Queens. The group had finished at the Christmas markets and were heading back to Peter’s apartment before someone was able to pick the girls up and drive them back to the Compound.

“I feel like people are staring,” Wanda said. She pulled her scarf tighter around her face and pulled her hat lower so only her eyes were showing.

“They’re probably wondering why _someone_ is trying to smother herself with her hat and scarf,” Shuri answered.

“They’re probably wondering when Peter Parker got more friends,” Lorna added.

Wanda went to scold her sister, but Peter interrupted her.

“That’s fair,” he said. “I have like no friends”

The group had walked on a little further when Wanda heard the sound of someone humming. She glanced over at Peter to see if he was aware that he was humming. He caught her eye and a sly grin spread across his face.

“He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice. He’s gonna find out who’s on thin fucking ice,” Peter sang.

Shuri started to cackle with laughter. “Santa Claus is calling you out”

Wanda groaned. “Can you guys get all your weird out before next week? Because Laura’s parents are coming to visit, and they’re technically my grandparents now, so if you guys could just not weird them out, that would be great. I didn’t exactly make a good first impression”

“I didn’t know you’d met them,” Lorna said. “What happened?”

“It was a year ago, back when I was still a fugitive,” Wanda began to explain. “They found out that Mom was hiding us there and threatened to call the cops. I jumped out the window and used my powers to stop them from doing it”

There was a momentary pause before Shuri decided to say something. “Valid”

“Don’t worry, if they try anything with you then somebody’s halls are getting decked,” Lorna said. Her sister sighed in exasperation. “What? You said that I had to get all the weird out before next week and so I will get _all_ the weird out”


	12. 12th Of December

“Why did you make us come Christmas shopping with you?” Kamala asked. Zoe and Mike both had last minute Christmas shopping to do and somehow both Kamala and Nakia had been dragged along with them. The group were shoving their way through the crowd to try and find a seat in the crowded food hall at the mall.

“Because shopping is fun, and it means that we can all hang out,” Zoe answered. The four eventually managed to find a seat and quickly dove for the free chairs, one end of a table with eight seats. Mike started pulling food out of the bag and handing it to the correct people.

“I wouldn’t call this fun,” Nakia argued as she looked around the crowded food hall. “I’ve had seven different people walk into me today”

“I thought you wanted to come because the superhero merch store has a Christmas sale,” Mike added, looking over at Kamala.

Kamala shrugged. “Everyone else is celebrating Christmas, I'm celebrating the cheaper prices”

Zoe snorted at Kamala’s response, setting the other’s off. As they were laughing, the group at the other end of the table left, leaving another four seats free. Two pairs spotted the free seats and began to shove their way through the crowd, getting to the seats before anyone else. 

Zoe turned to greet the newcomers. “Hi, I'm Zoe and these are my friends Mike, Nakia and Kamala”

“I’m Ganke and this is my friend Miles,” the boy sat next to Zoe introduced.

“And I’m Maddy and this is my twin Amadeus,” the girl at the end of the table added.

Kamala’s head shot up at the mention of Miles and Amadeus’ names. She looked over to see herself sat next to her two teammates. 

“Is something wrong?” Mike asked when she saw the look on Kamala’s face. She took a closer look at the people sat next to her friend. “I know you two from somewhere”

“Yeah, weren’t you at Midtown when it was attacked by Hydra?” Nakia asked Miles.

“And didn’t you go to our school for like a day?” Zoe asked Amadeus.

Miles made a confused noise and Amadeus looked alarmed.

“Mayhaps,” Amadeus answered.

Kamala groaned and rested her head in her hands. “Stop saying that, just say either 'maybe‘ or 'perhaps ‘”

“You know them?” Mike asked. “How?”

The three exchanged worried looks, unsure of how to answer the question with everyone looking at them.

“Champions,” Miles answered.

Kamala kicked him under the table. “He means that we all know each other from the Champions online fan community”

“That makes sense,” Ganke replied.

“Yeah, Kamala is a super nerd,” Mike added.

Maddy leant back into the conversation. “So, what happened at your school that made my brother quit after just one day?”

***

Kamala was trying to shove all their rubbish in the bin when Maddy came over with her and Amadeus’ rubbish. She looked over at Kamala. “Ms. Marvel I presume?”

Kamala’s eyes widened. “Please don’t tell”

“I promise I won’t,” Maddy said. “I haven’t snitched on my brother, I’m not going to snitch on you or Miles, who I’m guessing is Spider-Man.” Maddy smirked as she spied Miles heading over towards them. “Amadeus never mentioned your names, but he did tell me what his teammates were like. You should ask Miles out.” She smiled and walked away, leaving a stunned Kamala behind.

“You okay?” Miles asked as he walked up to her.

“I’m fine,” she answered. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Maddy watching them. Maddy caught her watching and suggestively raised her eyebrows a couple of times. “Hey Miles, do you maybe want to go out some time?”

Miles gave her a confused look. “What do you mean? We hang out all the time and go on patrol together”

“I meant would you like to go out on a date?” Kamala asked. She bit back a giggle as she saw him blush.

“I, erm, yeah, that sounds great,” Miles stammered out. “I mean, yes. I’ll go on a date with you. I would actually love that”

“Kamala!” Zoe yelled from the other side of the food hall. 

“Listen, I’ve gotta go. Call me?” Kamala said. Miles nodded and Kamala started to head towards her friends. She stopped at the last moment and turned back to Miles. She pressed a quick to his cheek. “See you around Miles”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FUCKING LOVE KAMILES AND I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP


	13. 13th Of December

“Hey, are you okay?” Kate asked. She flopped down on the sofa next to Cassie. The blonde girl was curled in on herself and seemed disinterested in what was on TV.

“I’m fine,” Cassie answered.

Kate turned the TV off and turned Cassie around to face her. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just missing home, that’s all,” Cassie explained. “We are just a few miles away from home and I can’t go back because I’m already there, but as an eight year old. Don’t get me wrong, I like it here and it is a lot better than the abandoned building you guys found me in. But it isn’t home”

“What about do you miss in particular?” Kate asked. “Maybe we can make this place a little more like home for you”

“We used to get the same fake Christmas tree out every year,” Cassie said. A small grin started to appear on her face. “We gave it a name”

“Gordon the Christmas tree,” Billy added. Kate and Cassie turned to see the rest of the Young Avengers as well as Nadia, Tj, Viv and Luna enter the room. “I don’t remember who named it that, but the name stuck for years”

“It was Lila,” Cassie said. “She named it that when we were ten. It was the name of a weird teacher we had at school. He only ever wore the one suit and it was the same colour as a Christmas tree”

“That makes sense,” Tommy replied. “Auntie Lila is a bit weird like that”

Luna exchanged a look with Viv. “Should we tell them?”

“Tell us what?” Tommy asked.

“Gordon was involved in a slight accident since you last saw him,” Viv explained. “We still have most of him, but he has to go on a table. We have another tree, Alister. No idea where that name came from”

“Lila again?” Kate asked.

Tommy, Billy, TJ, Viv and Luna exchanged a worried look.

“What’s wrong?” Cassie asked.

“Auntie Lila hasn’t really been like that for a while,” Billy replied. “Not since she was in her teens”

“Since I died,” Cassie finished. Billy nodded. “What kind of accident did Gordon get into?”

Luna snorted. “Well, there’s a reason that TJ isn’t allowed in the kitchen anymore”

“Honestly, you set an oven on fire once and they never let you forget it,” TJ sighed. “Well, more than once”

“I can’t believe Mom let you in the kitchen again,” Billy laughed. “And I know we don’t celebrate Christmas, but damn, you got Gordon. You might as just take down the rest of the Compound”

TJ glared at her brother. “Oh just shut up”


	14. 14th Of December

“What’s this?” Teddy asked as he walked into the kitchen.

Billy looked up and grinned at his boyfriend. “I’ve been trying new hot chocolate flavours”

Teddy pulled up a chair and sat at the table. “How’s it going?”

Billy looked around at the many mugs on the side counter. Most of them had patches of dried hot chocolate on the side and a half melted marshmallows were stuck to the inside of the mugs. “Bad.” The two boys snorted in laughter at the mess. “Cassie talking about life at the Compound in the future made me realise just how much I miss being back home. Like, I have my brother, my sisters and my cousin here with me, but I miss my Mom. She used to make different flavour hot chocolates in the winter. I thought maybe that I could do the same for us”

“And instead you made a mess”

“I may have inherited her chaos magic powers, but I did not inherit her ability to make a decent hot chocolate,” Billy laughed.

“Do you want some help clearing up?” Teddy asked.

“That would be great,” Billy replied.

***

It took them almost half an hour to clear up the mess Billy had managed to make. It would’ve taken them less time, but they ended having a fight with the soap bubbles. Billy looked at the left over hot chocolate. “Are you any good with making hot chocolate?”

Teddy gave his boyfriend a sceptical look. “I can give it a try”

***

“Obviously, the gingerbread was the best flavour,” Teddy said.

Billy shot him a confused look. “Are your taste buds okay? Because that peppermint was clearly far superior”

Teddy rolled his eyes. “Well, we can agree to disagree.” He looked over at Billy and smiled at the other boy’s playful grin. “Hey, I love you too”

Billy leaned in and kissed his boyfriend. “I love you too”


	15. 15th Of December

Steve was walking through the doorway when he ran into Hope. He flattened himself back against the wall to avoid walking into her bump. They heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. They turned over to see Tony grinning mischievously at them.

“Look up,” he said.

The pair looked up to see the mistletoe in the doorway above them.

“Tony, no,” Hope argued.

“Yeah, we are both in committed relationships, with our boyfriends,” Steve added.

“Mistletoe,” Tony whispered as he leant back on the sofa.

Steve smirked at Tony. He took Hope’s hand and pressed a gentle kiss to it.

Hope laughed at Tony’s face. “He’s such a gentleman, isn’t he?”

***

“Tony, no!”

Wanda and Clint froze at the sound of Steve yelling at their teammate.

“What’s wrong?” Wanda asked.

“He’s been annoying people all day about that,” Steve explained. He pointed to above them, where a piece of mistletoe was hanging in the doorway. “It has been weird and uncomfortable all day, Tony, but this is going too far”

Clint rolled his eyes at Tony but pressed a quick kiss to his daughter’s head. “See Tony, you don’t have to make everything creepy and weird”

“I wasn’t going to do anything,” Tony protested. “Even I’m not that bad”

***

I think we’re the last ones up,” Pepper said.

Tony looked around the room to see that everyone else had indeed left. He shot her a look, a smirk on his face. “You wanna head back to our room?”

Pepper grinned and jumped to her feet, pulling Tony up with her. She dragged him as far as the door before freezing in place.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Pepper didn’t respond, just looked up and grinned. Tony followed her gaze and laughed when he saw the mistletoe. He dipped his head down and caught her lips in a deep kiss.

He pulled back after a few seconds. “Now where were we?”

“I believe we were on our way back to our bedroom”

“I believe you’re right Mrs Stark” 

***

“We’re going to get caught,” Lila whispered. She and Cassie were creeping through the halls of the Compound back towards the kitchen. Their plan was to grab a load of cookies and then head back to Cassie’s room and watch cartoons on her Dad’s tablet, which they’d managed to “borrow” earlier that day.

“Only if you keep talking,” Cassie shot back with a playful giggle.

The two girls quickly grabbed as much food as they could before rushing back out of the kitchen. Cassie stopped all of a sudden when they were almost out of the room.

“Why did you stop?” Lila asked.

Cassie looked upwards. “I forgot that was up there”

Lila shot a quick glance above their heads and sucked in a breath when she saw the mistletoe. “Yeah, but that’s for the adults, we don’t have to worry about it”

Cassie shrugged, a small smirk spreading across her face. Before Lila could ask why she was smirking, the other girl had leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Lila’s cheek.

“We don’t have to worry about it now,” Cassie said. She grinned before dashing off back to her room, leaving her friend behind her.

Lila stood by herself under the mistletoe blinking furiously in confusion. One hand came up to cup the cheek Cassie had just kissed.

“Lila, are you coming?” Cassie called quietly, snapping her friend out of her slight daze.

“I’m coming,” Lila answered. She ran down the hall, desperately trying to ignore the blush creeping up her cheeks.


	16. 16th Of December

“Took your time New Jersey,” Amadeus teased. Miles, Viv and Nadia turned to see who he was talking to.

Kamala was running into the restaurant and towards her friends, gasping for breath. “Train was late,” she explained. She sank into the only seat left available, right next to Miles. She smiled warmly at him as she sat.

“What’s going on between you two?” Viv asked.

“Kamala asked Miles out on a date,” Amadeus said, butting in before Miles and Kamala could speak. “My sister told me”

Kamala groaned and hid her head in her hands as Nadia turned to face her and Miles, grinning wildly. “Please don’t be weird about this”

“Please, there’s only one member of the Young Avengers who isn’t dating any of the others,” Viv explained. “We’re not going to be weird.” She shot Amadeus and Nadia a look. “Are we?”

Amadeus and Nadia quickly agreed when they saw the glare they were receiving from Viv.

“So, are you officially a member of the Champions and not the Young Avengers?” Kamala asked Viv, happily taking an opportunity to change the topic of conversation. “I thought you’d want to stay with your brothers”

“I have to live with them at their base,” Viv sighed. “I don’t want to work with them as well”

“What about you, Nadia?” Kamala asked.

“I think I’m going to stick with the Champions, but I’m not going to stay at the warehouse for much longer,” she answered.

Miles looked confused. “Where else would you go? Didn’t your building collapse after Lorna removed that girder?”

“The Avengers Compound, I have family there,” Nadia answered. She carried on explaining when she saw the confused looks from Miles, Kamala and Amadeus, although Viv clearly knew what she was talking about. “It’s a long story, but I have a half-sister, but she’s never met me, almost definitely doesn’t know I exist”

“That’s weird,” Amadeus said. He’d been leaning back in his chair for most of the discussion, but at that moment, he leant back a little too far and tipped himself onto the floor. He created a loud crash as he did, catching the attention of everyone else in the restaurant.

“Sorry about him,” Miles apologised as he helped his friend off the floor. “He’s an idiot”

Viv leaned over the table to hit Amadeus in the arm. “Stop being so stupid,” she chastised.

“I promise”

***

Amadeus was unable to keep his promise, falling off his chair another three times before the group left, even managing to tip a drink over himself at one point.

“We can’t go out in public,” Nadia concluded as they left the restaurant.

The group of teens were stood outside, huddled together for a few more minutes before they had to go.

“Agreed,” Viv said. “Maybe we should just order pizza from now on”

“I’ve got to walk by the Young Avengers base on my way, mind if I walk with you guys?” Amadeus asked.

“Sure,” Nadia replied. “So long as you don’t mind us mocking you the whole way there”

Amadeus sighed. “Honestly, I wouldn’t expect anything else from you.” He turned to Kamala and Miles. “You guys okay on your own?”

“We’ll be fine, we have to walk to the same station anyway,” Miles answered.

The two smaller groups said goodbye and began to walk in opposite directions. Kamala and Miles walked in a comfortable silence for a few moments before the girl spoke suddenly.

“The light’s about to change,” she said. She grabbed Miles by the hand and pulled him across the road before the lights had a chance to change.

Once they’d crossed, Miles fully expected Kamala to drop his hand, but was surprised when she didn’t. The pair carried on walking towards the station, talking as they went, but never once let go of the other’s hand.

When they reached the station, Kamala sighed. “And this is where we say goodbye”

“I guess it is”

Kamala went to walk away but jolted back again when Miles didn’t let go of her hand. She stared down at their joined hands in shock. “I’m so sorry. I forgot to let go, I have made this so awkward for you”

Miles laughed lightly at her. “No, it’s okay. I like this. And I like you”

Kamala grinned up at him. She stood up slightly on the tips of her toes and brought her free hand up to cup his face as she kissed him. It was short, sweet kiss, but left the two of them blushing anyway. After a couple of moments, she finally pulled away.

“I gotta go,” she said. “See you around Spidey”

“See you around Marv”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like, can you tell I love Kamiles


	17. 17th Of December

“What are you guys doing?” Sam asked. He came and sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen as he watched Cassie and Scott.

The small girl looked up and grinned at Sam. “We’re decorating cookies shaped like Christmas trees”

“That’s so cool,” Sam said with a grin. “Let me see.” Cassie turned the plates around so that Sam could see the cookies that had been decorated so far. “Cassie, you’re doing amazing, but damn Tic-Tac, you are setting a terrible example to your daughter”

“Like you could do better,” Scott scoffed.

Sam narrowed his eyes at his friend. “Is that a challenge?”

Cassie glanced between the two, before wordlessly handing her decorating tools to Sam. “It appears we have a contest,” she announced. “You finish decorating the rest of cookies. Then we show the finished cookies to everyone else and let them decide who is the winner”

“Okay, I’m good,” Scott said. “So long as you’re not chicken”

Sam glared at Scott and began to decorate the cookies he’d been given, somehow managing to do it aggressively. Scott raised his eyebrows at his friend’s pettiness but began to decorate as well. Cassie leant back in her chair and watched the competition, giggling as they competed.

***

Cassie was perched on the kitchen island, a covered plate on either side of her. The rest of the Avengers and co were gathered in front of her.

“What’s going on?” Thor asked.

“Dad and Uncle Sam got into a petty argument over who was better at decorating cookies,” the girl explained. “So now, you’ll all judge the finished designs and decide who was best. But I’m not telling you who decorated which.” She lifted the tea towels, revealing the two plates of cookies.

Everyone came closer and studied the two different designs. After a few moments, Steve pointed to the plate on the left.

“Those ones,” he said. “They’re both good, but these ones are definitely better”

Everyone else nodded in agreement. Sam huffed and stormed out of the room.

“I think we may have made the wrong choice,” Tony joked.

“No you didn’t,” Scott replied smugly, taking a bite from his winning cookies. “You chose perfectly”


	18. 18th Of December

“This is ridiculous,” Lucinda shrieked. “I shouldn’t have to jump through all these bureaucratic hoops to see my daughter and grandkids”

“Ma’am, I’m just asking for your names to make sure you’re on the approved list for entry,” the guard at the gatehouse to the Compound said nervously.

Darcy rolled her window down. “Victor, Lucinda and Darcy Lewis and Ian Boothby”

The guard checked the list. “Thank you, you may go through.” He opened the gate and allowed them into the Compound.

Lucinda glared at her daughter as they drove in. “You didn’t need to do that”

“Yes I did Mom,” Darcy snapped. “The poor guy was trying to help us, and you were yelling at him. This is a high tech facility that’s home to some of the most powerful people on the planet. They’re not going to let just anyone in”

“They’re letting people in over there,” Victor said. He pointed over to a smaller building that was attached to the Compound, halfway between the main Avengers buildings and the onsite Stark Industries branch.

“That’s the visitor’s centre,” Darcy replied. “Are you sure that’s where you want to go?” Neither Victor nor Lucinda responded to their daughter. Darcy smirked at them and leant back against Ian. “We’re only here for a couple of days. Can you guys at least try and be nice. And that includes Clint and Wanda. And Wanda’s extended biological family”

“Wanda’s what?” Lucinda asked.

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Darcy asked. “Wanda’s biological father is still alive, as is her older sister and her younger half-sister. Did Laura not tell you this?”

“No, she’s barely spoken to me since last Christmas,” Lucinda said. “Not that I have any idea why”

“You almost called the cops on the Avengers. Wanda had to use her powers to make you forget they were there,” Darcy added. “So I’d say that is kinda understandable that she hasn’t wanted to talk to you much since then”

“That never happened,” Victor argued.

“Did you miss the part where I said that Wanda had to erase your memory of that happening?” Darcy sarcastically asked. The car pulled to a stop in the underground car park of the Compound. “Remember, play nicely”

The group grabbed their bags from the boot of the car and followed the directions that Laura had texted Darcy. She led the group into the lift and up a few floors until they reached a set of doors with a key card scanner.

“Hey FRIDAY,” Darcy called. “Can you let us in?”

There was an awkward silence as the AI didn’t respond. “Maybe”

“FRIDAY,” Darcy chided. “Come on, let us in”

“Ok, but I expect anyone that enters the private areas of the Compound is expected to treat the rest of the people living here with respect,” FRIDAY instructed as the door opened.

Darcy shot her parents a look as they walked through the door. “You have now been warned by me and the AI that can control the hot water and electricity to your room”

Lucinda and Victor exchanged a worried look as they came into the large open main living area of the Compound. Laura was waiting for them there, along with a small group of others, Wanda and Clint amongst them.

“Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad,” Laura greeted as she walked over to her parents and hugged them briefly in turn. She turned to Darcy and grinned widely at her younger sister. “Hey loser”

Darcy snorted. “Hey yourself.” The two siblings hugged tightly for a moment.

Lucinda noticed that most of the room had cleared out, leaving just Clint and Wanda waiting on the sofas. “Clint,” she greeted coldly.

“Hey Lucinda,” Clint replied, trying to be much more civil than she was. “Nice to see you.” He turned to face Wanda. “Have you texted your sisters?”

Wanda grabbed her phone out from her pocket and quickly sent a text. “Yes I have”

“These will be the sisters that you didn’t bother to tell us about,” Lucinda said in a passive aggressive tone.

“Well, Mom, you made it perfectly clear that you didn’t want anything to do with this part of my family, and Darcy did,” Laura calmly replied. “Maybe in the future, if you want to keep up to date on with what’s going on with my family, then you’ll actually be a decent person to everyone”

“Do we go in now or what?” a voice from around the corner whispered. “It seems kind of awkward”

“Whoever’s there, show yourself,” Victor ordered.

“Well, damn, okay,” said the voice. A short girl with long green hair in two plaits came around the corner, her hands held up defensively. She was followed by a woman who looked like an older version of Wanda.

“Stop ordering them about Dad,” Darcy argued. “This is their home”

“Mom, this is Lorna Dane and Anya Eisenhardt,” Laura introduced, pointing to each of the girls in turn

Lucinda gave Lorna a snide look. “Does your father approve of you having your hair that colour?”

“Well, seeing as it’s my natural colour, he doesn’t have a problem with it,” Lorna said with a shrug.

“Mom, can you just play nice for three days?” Darcy asked. “We’re for the Christmas-”

“Holiday,” Wanda interrupted.

“Holiday Party,” Darcy corrected. “Then we’re going home. Can you just be nice until then?”

“Fine,” Lucinda huffed. She and Victor went and sat on one of the sofas. Darcy and Ian sat with them, Laura joined Clint and Lorna and Anya went to join their sister.

“You vanished off the face of the earth for a few months earlier this year,” Victor said, staring Wanda down. “What was that about? I thought you seemed determined to be staying with my daughter and her family”

Lorna narrowed her eyes at Victor as Wanda shifted uncomfortably.

“Are you going to answer him?” Lucinda snapped.

“Did you see about what happened in Genosha?” Wanda asked.

“Wanda, you don’t have to answer that,” Clint said.

“Dad, I’m fine, honestly,” Wanda reassured. “Did you?”

“Well of course we did,” Lucinda answered. “Everyone saw about that. It was awful”

“I was there,” Wanda answered. She looked over at her sisters. “We all were. I couldn’t safely travel home until three weeks ago”

“What were you even doing there?” Victor demanded.

“I may have made Wanda come along with me to find our Dad,” Lorna explained. “Well, our biological Dad. This is Clint Barton hate free zone”

Clint gave Lorna a discrete thumbs up, earning one back in return.

“And where is this father of yours?” Victor asked.

“He’s at a meeting, he’ll be back later,” Anya explained. “He’ll be back around them same time the kids get in from school”

An uncomfortable silence settled back over the room.

“I think we’d better go unpack,” Darcy announced suddenly in an attempt to cut through the tension. She jumped to her feet and pulled Ian up with her.

Victor and Lucinda followed their daughters out of the room as Laura showed them all where they’d be staying.

Lorna sighed and deflated further into the sofa. “Well, that could’ve gone better”

***

Laura was sat on the edge of her parent’s bed, watching them as they unpacked. “Can you at least try and be nice to her?”

“If you want us to get along, you should get her to try as well,” Lucinda argued.

Laura glared at her Mom. “The fact she hasn’t started a fight with you shows how much she’s already trying. Her only past experiences of you are of you trying to get her arrested and of hiding in her bedroom while she is forced to listen to the two of you drag her name through the dirt. She has been through enough already without her own family rejecting her. And that’s what she is, your family. Whether you like it or not, she is your granddaughter.” Laura stood up and began to walk out the room. She paused when she reached the door. “She almost died when she was in Genosha. I almost lost my daughter. Her job is a dangerous one. If you’re not nice to her now you could miss your chance”

Victor and Lucinda watched as Laura left and closed the door behind her.

“Do you think that she’s right?” Lucinda asked. “That we’re being to hard on that girl?”

“Maybe”

***

Wanda was waiting further down the hall for Laura as she came out of her parents’ room. “I heard what you were saying to them”

“They needed to be told,” Laura replied. “They treat you like dirt without any clue what you’ve been through”

“Yeah, but we know from my time travelling family that I’m find in the future,” Wanda argued. “I mean, emotionally, probably not, but physically I’m fine”

“Yeah, but they don’t need to know that”


	19. 19th Of December

“Welcome to Avengers Compound,” Cassie said as she and the rest of the Young Avengers walked into the building, TJ, Viv, Luna and Nadia trailing behind them. “Although I’d argue that some of you are more familiar with this place than I am”

“We’re from further in the future,” Billy pointed out. “They may have redecorated a few times since now”

The group ended up in the line to check their tickets for the Holiday Party. Viv hung back with Nadia.

“Are you going to try and find Hope?” Viv asked.

“You knew who I was talking about?” Nadia said.

“Of course I did,” Viv replied. “I know exactly who you are. I’ve known you my whole life”

“I was at the Compound when you were growing up?”

Viv gave Nadia a look. “Of course you were, this place is your home”

***

“Hey losers,” Shuri said as she approached Wanda and Lorna. She took a closer look at Lorna’s hair. “Nice hair rings”

“Thanks,” Lorna replied. “They’re cute and a wearable fashion weapon”

Wanda sighed and held her head in her hands. “Please can you not murder anyone at this party”

Lorna sighed. “Fine. I’ll try”

***

“Hope, are you okay?” Scott asked.

Hope looked over at her boyfriend from where she’d been staring at a young girl with the Young Avengers across on the other side of the room. “She looks familiar”

“The girl in the red dress with the short brown hair?” Scott said.

“She looks like Maria Troyova”

“Who?”

Hope shook her head. “It’s probably nothing”

***

Wanda was sat at the side of the large hall the party was in, watching her younger sister. Lorna was with Marcos and the others from the Mutant Underground. Wanda spotted Anya across the room, also watching how close their younger sister was with her boyfriend. She spotted Anya pull out her phone, quickly typing something before putting her phone back in her handbag. Wanda’s phone buzzed her pocket.

 **Anya:** If they leave together, I’m following them

Wanda giggled at her sister’s message before she shot one back.

 **Wanda:** I believe you

 **Wanda:** Kick his ass for me

 **Anya:** Oh, I will

Wanda smiled as she put her phone away. As she did, she heard the chairs next to her creak as someone else sat down. She looked up to see Lucinda and Victor Lewis sat next to her.

“What do you guys want?” she asked.

The couple exchanged a look before Victor looked back at Wanda. “We’re here to apologise”

“Wait, what?” Wanda responded, looking confused.

“We haven’t exactly been nice to you,” Lucinda explained. Wanda raised her eyebrows, a sarcastic look on her face. “Or civil at all. And we’re here to change that”

“Laura spoke to us, well, had a go at us and we realised that we have been treating you in an awful way,” Victor added. “We wanted to talk to you and try and make things right”

Wanda squinted at the two of them. “Okay, I’m listening”

***

“Hey,” came a voice from behind America. She turned around to see Lila hiding in the corner of the room. “Can I talk to you?”

America nodded at the little girl and allowed her to lead her out of the room. They left the main area of the compound where the party was being held and into the private area that the Avengers and their families lived in. America looked around her, finding it strange that this is where her friends would one day grow up.

Lila opened the door to her room and the two girls stepped inside. Lila offered America the swivel chair at the small desk before sitting herself down on the bed opposite.

“What did you want to talk about?” America asked softly, doing her best to give the impression that she was good with children.

“I wanted someone’s advice on something, and I thought that you would be the only one who could understand what I was talking about,” Lila explained, not meeting America’s eyes. “It’s about Cassie”

“Cassie Lang?” America asked. “As in your best friend, what about her?”

“That’s the thing,” Lila sighed. “I’m her best friend, but I’m not sure if that’s what she is to me”

America froze, this had not been where she’d expected this conversation to go. “You mean that you wish she was more than a friend to you?”

“I don’t know,” Lila said as she dramatically threw herself back onto her bed. “Why is this so hard? We’re really close and I love her, but I’m eight, I don’t know what love really is”

America smiled at the small girl. “I’m sure you do”

“This isn’t what they talk about in any of the books at school,” Lila said. She continued explaining when she saw the look America was giving her. “Like, the prince saves the princess and they all live happily ever after kind of love. That’s what it’s meant to be like, right?”

“Kid stop imagining that you’re the princess waiting for a prince,” America instructed. “And start imagining that you’re the prince and Cassie is the princess”

Lila’s eyes bugged open ad she sat up suddenly. “Oh,” she muttered.

America stood up and went to sit next to the girl on the bed, looping her arm around her shoulder. “Listen, you don’t have to think through all this now, you’re still young and you have time to figure your life out. Believe me, I still haven’t and I’m twenty. And you don’t have to tell anyone else what you told me, not even Cassie if you don’t want to yet. And I won’t tell anyone either”

“Promise?” Lila asked, staring up at America with wide eyes.

“Promise,” she agreed. “Now, shall we go back to the Holiday party?”

Lila nodded, and the two girls quickly made their way through the halls of the compound. When they reached the hall, Lila dashed off back to where the other kids her age were, and America went back to join the Young Avengers. She tapped Kate lightly on the shoulder, distracting her from where she’d been watching Clint, Laura and Wanda were talking to Billy, Tommy and Luna.

“Hey princess,” America greeted, pressing a quick kiss to Kate’s lips. “I miss anything good while I was gone”

“Nothing much, where were you by the way?” Kate asked.

“Just talking to Lila,” America quickly explained, avoiding any details for the little girl’s sake.

“Uh-huh,” Kate said. She looked over to where Lila was stood with Cassie and the others in the corner, observing the looks Lila was shooting her friend when Cassie wasn’t looking, the way she twiddled with her hands and tucked her hair behind her ears whenever the two spoke. “She seems very close to Cassie”

America smirked lightly. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? She doesn’t want anyone else to know yet”

“Don’t worry, I won’t”

***

Wanda was still sat with Victor and Lucinda when Erik and Anya came running up to her.

“Have you seen Lorna?” Erik demanded.

Wanda looked confused. “No, in about half an hour. Why?”

“What about Marcos?” Anya asked.

Wanda’s eyes bugged open comically. “We gotta find them”

“What’s going on?” Victor asked.

Wanda stood from her chair. “My little sister and her boyfriend are missing. We need to go find them”

Victor and Lucinda exchanged a look. “We’ll help,” Victor said as he and his wife stood up as well.

Wanda looked shocked. “Really?”

“Of course,” Lucinda replied. “If this was one of our daughters, we’d want backup in finding her”

“We can split and cover the Compound between us,” Anya suggested. Everyone else nodded and started to search the Compound.

***

Lorna and Marcos snuck back into the party as quietly as possible, trying to go unnoticed. Sonya pounced on them almost immediately.

“Hey, your Dad and sisters are looking for you,” she warned. “And I’m not saying that they’re desperate, but they’ve enlisted the help of Laura’s parents”

“Wanda is willing working with Victor and Lucinda?” Lorna spluttered. Sonya nodded. “Oh god, we’re in trouble. You guys need to leave”

“What will you do?” Marcos asked.

“I’m going to hide,” Lorna answered. She quickly kissed Marcos. “Wish me luck”

Sonya and Marcos started towards the exit, grabbing Clarice and John as they went. Lorna made sure they’d escaped before rushing towards the private areas of the Compound.

***

“Hey, kid, what’s going on with your friends?” Tony asked Peter. He pointed to where Lorna’s friends were hurrying out the door, the green haired girl dashing in the other direction.

“I have no idea,” Peter replied. “I don’t normally what’s going on with them”

“You and me both kid”

***

By the time that everyone else made it back to the main area of the Compound, they weren’t entirely sure if it was still late in the evening or if it was early the next day. Erik snuck up to Lorna’s door and pushed it open slightly. He looked round the door to make sure she was there.

“She’s asleep,” he whispered to the rest of the search team.

Victor, Lucinda, Anya and Erik all left to go back to their rooms. Wanda waited until they were out of sight before sliding into Lorna’s room.

“Tell that boyfriend of yours that if I ever see him again that I’m going to beat his ass, okay?”

“Please don’t,” Lorna whispered.

“I will,” Wanda promised. “I will”


	20. 20th Of December

“Hey, Tony are you okay?” Rhodey asked. His friend was sat at the counter, his head propped up in one hand. Rhodey rolled his chair closer to Tony and gave his friend a slight nudge in the arm. Tony’s arm collapsed from underneath him and his chin banged harshly against the granite surface of the kitchen counter. Tony yelped as he was forcibly woken up.

“I wasn’t asleep,” Tony said as he tried to defend himself.

“How drunk were you last night?” Rhodey asked.

“I dunno, like, six,” Tony answered.

“Oh my god, you’re still drunk,” Rhodey laughed. His face turned sober after a second. “I am in charge of a load of drunk and hungover people”

“Good luck,” Tony mumbled before resting his head on his arms and drifting back off to sleep.

***

Wanda was sat on the roof of the Compound, watching the sunrise over the trees. From behind her, she heard the doors open and a pair of footsteps walk towards her.

“How’s your sister?” Lucinda asked.

“She’s okay for now, but once Erik and Anya are done with her, she might not be as okay,” Wanda answered.

“May I join you?”

Wanda nodded, and Lucinda jumped up, so she was sat next to Wanda on the wall.

“This is a lovely view,” Lucinda commented.

“It is,” Wanda replied. “I come up here as often as I can to watch the sunrise. Well, in the winter at least. In the summer, it means getting up way too early in the morning”

“What about at the farmhouse?”

Wanda looked over at Lucinda. “You know we were there?”

“It wasn’t that hard to figure out after a while,” Lucinda answered. “It makes sense that Laura would hide her family there. Did you watch the sunrise at the farmhouse?”

“Sometimes,” Wanda said. “I would either go the porch or climb up onto the roof.” Wanda stopped for a moment looking down at her feet hanging over the edge of the roof. “I used to watch the sunrise with my Mom, my birth Mom, back in Sokovia. We used to live on the top floor of our apartment block in Novi Grad”

“I’m sorry about what happened to your birth family, you didn’t deserve to lose them the way you did,” Lucinda apologised. “And I’m sorry for trying to force you out of our family now”

“Pass me your phone,” Wanda ordered. Lucinda gave her a confused look but handed the phone over anyway. Wanda took the phone and quickly put a number in before handing the phone back. “You’ve got my number if you want to carry on this whole getting to know each other thing.” Wanda swung her legs around and dropped back down onto the roof and walked towards the door.

***

Laura helped her parents, Darcy and Ian load their bags back into the car. “Hey, Mom, can I talk to you for a second?”

Lucinda nodded and the two walked to the side. “Is something wrong?”

“No, but Wanda was just telling me that you were talking to her earlier on the roof,” Laura explained.

“Oh,” Lucinda responded. It made sense that Wanda would talk to her mother over the fact that Lucinda was suddenly being nice to each other. “Was she okay?”

“I think she was more surprised than anything else,” Laura answered. “Especially given this time a year ago I don’t think anyone would have put it past you to try and push her off the top of that roof”

Lucinda smiled grimly. “That’s fair. Listen, I’ll try and do my best to keep in contact with her now and try and get along. Even if not for her or me, but for you. You don’t need your Mom and your daughter hating each other. And I think your Dad is coming around to her now as well”

“Thanks Mom,” Laura said. She hugged her mother and watched her get into the car and drive away. “Well, I think that went well”


	21. 21st Of December

“Do you know what they’re up to?” Cassie asked. She was sat on the balcony of the girls’ floor in the, her legs hanging over the edge as she watched the others below her.

“I heard them talking earlier, they said they wanted to do something special for you because it’s your first Christmas with them rather than with your family,” Nadia explained. “Just act surprised on the day, don’t want to hurt their feelings”

“It’s your first Christmas here too,” Cassie pointed out. “Well, your first real Christmas ever, considering where you grew up.” She turned around to face the other girl and frowned when she saw what she was doing. “Why are you packing?”

“I’m not staying here for Christmas,” Nadia answered. “I have family to find”

“You saw her at the Compound, didn’t you?” Cassie asked. Nadia shot her a confused look. “I’m from the future, remember? I know who you are. You’re leaving for the Compound aren’t you?”

“Not today, but soon,” Nadia replied. She sighed and sat down on her bed. “I want to go, but I also don’t, you get me? I’ve spent my entire life shut away and now there’s all this. It’s just a bit too much. Two days, two days and then I’ll go”

“You sure you’re going to be okay?” Cassie asked.

Nadia nodded. “I should. What about you?”

Cassie looked back down, glancing at Tommy and Billy. “I’ve known those two since they were little children. Well, I knew them for the first two years of their lives and now I know these older versions. But that doesn’t mean that they didn’t do anything stupid when they were little that I can bring up. After all, what holiday is complete without someone sharing embarrassing baby stories?”


	22. 22nd Of December

“I know it’s cold, but I think this might be a bit overkill,” David said as he put on all the snow gear his boyfriend had ordered him to.

Tommy grinned at where he was dressing similarly. A bag lay at his feet ready for whatever Tommy had planned for the evening. “You’ll thank me in a minute, now hurry up”

David rolled his eyes but finished doing the coat up anyway. “I’m ready, now what?” The wind suddenly whipped around David and he quickly realised that Tommy had picked him and was running him somewhere. They stopped less than a minute later, stood on a snowy bank covering the side of the hill. Below them, a small town seemed to glow in the moonlight David wobbled slightly as he found his footing again. “Where are we?”

“Baffin Island, Nunavut, Northern Canada,” Tommy answered. “That down there is Pangnirtung”

“And why are we here?” David asked.

“Look up,” Tommy replied.

David looked up and gasped. Above him, the Northern Lights lit up the sky, their bright colours dancing slowly, brilliant hues of pink, green and blue illuminating their surroundings. “The Aurora Borealis,” David said in awe.

Tommy pulled a thick picnic blanket out from the bag he’d brought with them and laid it on the ground. “That should be thick enough to stop us from getting too cold,” Tommy said. He shot David a cocky look. “Aren’t you glad that you dressed up as warm as you did?”

David glared lightly at his boyfriend as he sat down on the blanket. “I’m saying nothing,” he replied.

Tommy sat next to and pulled two large thermal flasks from the bag and handed one to David. “I brought soup, thought it would keep us warm. I’ve got a flask of coffee as well.” He leant against David’s shoulder and huddled closer, as if trying to steal his boyfriend’s warmth. “You’d mentioned a few times that you’d wanted to see the Northern Lights. I thought that I’d bring you up here to see them”

“Thank you,” David said. “I love you”

Tommy grinned at him. “I love you too”

***

After half an hour, David noticed something weird down in the town below. “Did you see that?”

“See what?” Tommy asked.

“I thought I saw something, a girl with wings, I think she was flying,” David replied.

“I didn’t see anything,” Tommy responded.

David shrugged. “It was probably nothing”

“Yeah, probably”


	23. 23rd Of December

It was by pure coincidence that the two were in the same place at the same time. Bruce was waiting for the last of the parcels he’d ordered for Christmas to be arrived and plotting the best way to the storage unit without being caught by Lila and Cassie when he got a phone call to say that it had been sent to the reception of the visitor’s centre by mistake. When he got there, he spotted the girl pacing up and down by one of the windows, clutching onto the straps of her bag tightly. 

“Hey,” he said as he approached her. “Nadia, right? You were with the Young Avengers and Champions at the party the other night. I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your last name” 

“That’s okay,” Nadia reassured. “I’m not sure I have one, I don’t remember ever being given one.” She moved her hand up to tuck a loose lock of hair behind her ear. As she did, the sleeve of her jacket slipped down, revealing an angry red scar circling her wrist. 

Bruce’s hand shot out and grabbed Nadia’s wrist. After studying the scar for a second, he could tell it was identical to the one Natasha had on the same wrist. And if she had the same scar, then she came from the same place. 

“I think I know what happened to me before there,” Nadia said, indicating towards her wrist. “And coming here is the only way I can know for certain what happened to me” 

“Come with me,” Bruce said. Nadia nodded and followed him away from the visitor centre and through a set of doors that warned against being used by unauthorised personnel. 

“Dr Banner,” said a robotic voice from the ceiling. “Her visitor authorisation expired three days ago” 

“Give her access to the private areas F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” Bruce instructed. “She needs our help.” Bruce continued to lead through the base until they reached the Avengers’ living areas. He quickly shoved the box in a cupboard before anyone else could see him with it. “Better hide that properly later” 

“Who’s this?” Tony asked as Bruce and Nadia rounded the corner. 

“This is Nadia, she was at the party the other night,” Bruce introduced. Nadia waved slightly to the group. Almost everyone was there, only Natasha, Oksana, Hope and Scott missing. “She needs our help with something. Where’s Nat?” 

Lila ran off, yelling over her shoulder that she’d find Natasha as she went. Pepper approached the girl. 

“Did something happen?” she asked. 

“It’s not like that,” Nadia replied. “There’s just some things that I need to know, and the only people who can help me are here” 

Natasha came into the room, holding Oksana to her chest, being led by Lila. “What’s wrong?” she asked. 

“Nat look at her wrist,” Bruce said. 

Natasha gave him a weird look but came over anyway. However, as soon as she recognised the scarring pattern around Nadia’s wrist, her expression changed to one of shock. She grasped the girl’s wrist and gave it a closer look, confirming that it was real. 

“What’s so special about her wrist?” Tony asked. 

Natasha handed the baby to Bruce and removed the watch that she always wore from her wrist, revealing a twin scar. “Red Room,” Natasha explained. “They handcuffed us to the beds. Stop us running away, killing each other, killing ourselves, never knew the reason why, but they always did it. They’ve been doing it for years, before I even joined. Looks like they carried on” 

“I know that you’ve worked hard to put that part of your life behind you,” Nadia said. “But do you have any way of accessing the Science Class’s files?” 

Natasha raised one eyebrow. “The Science Class? Damn kid, you must be smart. I might be able to, but with them still being operational, that does mean there is a chance they could find you. What do you want to know?” 

“They kidnapped my mom on her honeymoon. They didn’t know she was pregnant,” Nadia started to explain. “I was born while she was being held. She died a few days after. I just want to know what they did with her body. And, there’s someone else I need to talk to here” 

“Who?” Natasha asked. 

“Hope Van Dyne,” she said. “The research they had me doing, it was on the Pym particles, I just want to speak to her about that” 

“Come on, I’ll show you to her,” Pepper offered. The two left the room and Pepper led the young girl down a hall towards Hope and Scott’s bedroom. The door was propped open and so Pepper knocked lightly a couple of times before pushing the door open. “Hey guys, this is Nadia from the party the other night. She wanted to talk to Hope” 

“Pepper, can you give us a moment alone?” Hope asked calmly. Pepper nodded and closed the door as she left the girl alone with Hope and Scott. “Why are you here?” 

Before Nadia could answer, Scott spoke up. “Wait, I remember you pointing her out to me the other night,” he said, addressing Hope. “You said she looked like someone called Maria Troyova” 

“You knew her?” Nadia asked hopefully. 

“Of course I did, she was my stepmom,” Hope answered. Scott shot her a confused look while Nadia seemed to look hopeful. “My Dad remarried June 2000 to Maria. She was from Hungary and that’s where they went on their honeymoon. But she was kidnapped, and we never found her again. What do you have to do with any of this?” 

“I was raised in the Red Room from the age of four, but they’d had me since I was born,” Nadia started to explain. “They moved me when I was older to the Science Class, I was too smart to waste on just being an assassin, they wanted me and others like me to make new weapons for them. But, for whatever reason, I kept coming back to the Pym Particles and the people there seemed to get more and more excited every time this happened. After a while, I came across a paper by Hank Pym and Maria Troyova. I recognised the name from a copy of file I’d managed to steal. It said I was born on the 24th of March 2001 to a captured scientist named Maria Troyova. But there were complications during the birth and she only lived long enough to name me” 

Hope looked at the girl that had finally stopped talking. “So, Maria was pregnant when she was taken and you’re my sister?” 

“Well, half-sister, but yes,” Nadia replied. 

Hope took two long strides towards Nadia and wrapped the girl up in a large hug. Nadia’s arms immediately shot up to hug Hope back and buried her face into her sister’s shoulder. Hope pulled back and brushed Nadia’s short hair away from her face. “I’m so sorry” 

“Why?” Nadia asked. 

“For not looking harder for Maria,” Hope said. “If we’d just been able to find her, then you would have never had to grow up in the Red Room. You would’ve had the chance to meet Dad before he died” 

Nadia bit her lip, a few small tears springing up in her eyes. “I heard about what had happened to him a few months ago. They liked to keep us up to date with what was going on in the science world. They thought that way we’d have the most up to date information to work with while making stuff for them. That was the day I managed to escape.” Nadia reached into her shirt and pulled out a necklace. At first glance, the pendant looked like it was patterned with a flower, but as Hope looked closer, she could see that it was actually a Wasp suit secured inside a glass locket. “I used the Pym Particles to make this, amongst other things” 

Hope gave Nadia a look. “What did you do?” 

“So that I could try on the suit without anyone seeing it, I may have ever so slightly injected myself with the Pym Particles, so I don’t actually need the suit to change size,” Nadia explained, looking more and more sheepish with every word. She finished her sentence by shooting an innocent looking smile. 

Hope sighed and rested her head in her hands. “You are definitely Hank Pym’s daughter,” she said. “Using yourself as a human guinea pig. Where are you staying?” 

“I’ve been with the Young Avengers for a few months,” Nadia said. “But I wanted to come find you” 

“Good, you’re staying,” Hope all but ordered. 

“Are you sure the others will be okay with that?” Nadia asked. 

“If Tony Stark has a problem with it, then he can fight me himself,” Hope replied. 

“Besides, at this point, family members that we didn’t know about showing up and moving in with us is kinda the norm for the Avengers at this point,” Scott added. 

Hope rolled her eyes at her boyfriend and turned back to her sister instead. “I’ll show you to a spare room.” Nadia nodded and allowed herself to be led out of the room and down the hall slightly. They stopped in front of a door two doors down from Scott and Hope’s room. She pushed the door open to reveal a room of a similar layout to Hope and Scott’s. “I would offer you the one next door, but Scott and I are in the middle of converting it to a nursery” 

Nadia turned to face Hope, a look of excitement on her face. “You’re pregnant?” Now she was looking closer, she could see the shape of a small bump that Hope’s lose top was hiding. “I’m going to be an Aunt?” 

“Yes, my due date is in April,” Hope replied. She looked around at the plain room. “I’ll take you shopping after Christmas, help you decorate this place. Oh god, I need to get you something for Christmas. What kind of stuff do you like?” 

“I don’t know,” Nadia answered. “Never had the chance to develop interests there. Besides, you don’t need to worry about me, I don’t need anything, just finding my family is enough. And this place is great as it is.” Nadia emphasised her point by ditching her bag on the floor and throwing herself down onto the bed. “Any place that I don’t have to share with a load of other trained assassins” 

“Well, Natasha and Clint are here, but I think they have a thing about keeping murder out of the same building as their kids,” Hope joked. “I’ll leave you to settle in. I’ll come get you in about half an hour, everyone normally eats around then” 

Nadia smiled at her and Hope turned to leave but was stopped when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind. “I’m going to warn you now that I’m a hugger” 

“Good to know,” Hope said before she was finally able to leave the room. 

Nadia grinned to herself as she began to unpack her few possessions in her new room. 

***

“What are you doing?” Scott asked. 

Hope looked up from where she was sat in an armchair in the corner of their room, hunched over her tablet screen. “I’m just doing a bit of last minute Christmas shopping. Thankfully Tony pays out for us to have next day delivery. You’re helping me with all the extra wrapping by the way” 

“Is this for Nadia?” Scott asked. 

“Who else would it be for?” 

“Babe, I could hear you both talking, she doesn’t want anything,” Scott pointed out. 

Hope put the tablet down and looked up at her partner. “She said she didn’t _need_ anything, that’s different to not wanting anything. She’s still a kid, but she grew up in hell. So sue me if I buy her a load of stuff for Christmas” 

***

“Hey, Nadia,” Scott said as he stuck his head around her door. “Hope sent me. Everyone’s sitting down for dinner. Do you wanna come now or get something when it’s quieter?” 

“I’ll come now,” Nadia replied. “If I’m staying, then I’d better get used to being around everyone. And everyone used to being around me” 

“Kid, your neither our only former assassin or unknown family member, you’ll be fine,” Scott reassured. 

“Yeah, but I’m guessing I’m the first where I’m both,” Nadia joked. 

“Fair point,” Scott admitted as the two walked back down to the common areas. When they reached the room, Nadia could see that everyone was somehow managing to fit around a massive table. 

Tony looked up as Nadia and Scott walked in. “I see we’re keeping another one”

“She’s half-sister, so yes, we’re keeping this one,” Hope argued.

“Another sister?” Sam exclaimed. “I feel like I should call my Mom and make sure that I know about all of my relatives”

“Sam, stop being an ass,” Pepper chided.

Nadia snickered at the adults as she sat down next to Hope at the table. She watched as the table quickly filled up with the rest of the people living at the Compound. A few said hi to Nadia, but for the most part, she seemed to be lost amongst the large crowd around the table.

After a few moments, Erik pointed at her with a confused look on his face. “Did I forget someone because I don’t remember this one. There’s too many of you people for me to keep up with”

Everyone else who hadn’t seen her earlier turned to look at the girl who froze awkwardly half-way through a bite of food. She swallowed the food and grinned sheepishly at everyone. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Nadia. Nice to meet you”

“Hey,” Lorna said. “I thought that you were staying with the Young Avengers”

“You know her?” Tony asked.

“We met her when we met up with the Young Avengers and the Champions,” Wanda explained. “And Lorna’s right, we thought you were staying with them”

“You’ve been with the Young Avengers that long, why didn’t you come here earlier?” Scott asked.

“I’ve actually been in the country since March,” Nadia explained. “But I wasn’t with them until July and you guys weren’t back here then. After everyone got back here, I just kept putting off coming here for some reason”

“And, I’m sorry if I’m missing something obvious, but who are you?” Steve asked.

Nadia smiled awkwardly. “Well, funny story…”

Between the two of them, Nadia and Hope managed to explain what had happened to Nadia that had led to her arriving at the Compound. By the end, the rest of the Avengers were looking highly worried on behalf of the young girl, none entirely sure how to respond.

“Do you remember who took you to the Red Room from where they kept you at first?” Bucky asked, breaking the silence. “Because I have a really bad feeling that was me”

Nadia nodded. “It was, but you were under some form of long term mind control, it wasn’t your fault”

“How is the tiny assassin so nice?” Bucky asked. “I literally handed you over to one of the worst groups of people and you’re just calmly dismissing it”

Nadia shrugged. “Yeah”

“Wait, since when was Hydra working with the Red Room? And how are we not talking about that part?” Tony pointed out.

“That was a temporary thing,” Natasha explained.

“Yeah, that’s way in the past,” Bucky added.

Erik stared at the group, it clearly being obvious that he was regretting ever getting to know these people. “So, this has been a bit of a weird day for all of us. Does anyone else have anything they’d like to add?” Nobody responded. “Good. Now, can we please have one normal meal?”


	24. 24th Of December

“Why are we stopping next to an old warehouse?” Erik asked.

“Because this is where the Young Avengers live, Dad,” Lorna answered.

“Oh,” Erik said. “Why?”

“Would you assume that this warehouse was the base for a superhero team?” Anya asked. Erik shook his head. “Exactly, the perfect hiding spot for them”

Wanda listened to her bickering family as she pulled bags out of the boot of the car, trying to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. She shouldered as many of the bags as she could before shoving her way through the door. “We’re here!” she yelled as she entered the building.

Tommy and TJ were the first to appear, running and teleporting up to Wanda. The two threw themselves at their mother, wrapping her up in hugs. Billy, Luna and Viv quickly caught up with the other two and hung back until Tommy and TJ had moved out of the way.

Erik, Lorna and Anya followed Wanda into the building. Lorna immediately made herself at home, flopping down on one of the sofas.

“Can you guys let me go now?” Wanda asked. The kids finally detached themselves from her and allowed her to bring the bags into the kitchen, dumping them on the table. “Happy belated Hanukkah. Sorry that we’ve only just come to visit, these people have kept me under house arrest”

“You were sick,” Anya argued.

“And you’ve been out,” Lorna pointed out.

“Yeah, once,” Wanda said.

“And yet you went to hang out with Spider-Man,” Luna added.

Wanda stared pointedly at her niece. “Again, how did I not see before that you’re Pietro’s daughter? You’ve got the same smartass attitude as him”

Most people were now sat down on the sofas, except for Erik. Instead, he was hovering awkwardly by the table with the bags. Lorna turned around and gave him a look. When he didn’t move, she climbed over the back of the sofa and walked towards him.

“Why aren’t you sitting with us?”

“Am I the only person here that finds this weird?” he asked.

“Of course not,” Lorna replied. “This whole thing is weird as shit. But with our family, weird is just what we have to deal with. You just need to get used to and move on with life. Now come and get to know your grandkids, who are the same age as your kids”

Erik rolled his eyes but allowed himself to be led back to the rest of his family. He sat down between Lorna and Luna and got caught up in the conversation.


End file.
